Post on 28-Jan-2023
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Den Haag, February 28th, 2014
Playing with a Galant Cliché: The 'Marpurg Cadence' in Schubert's D. 537, iii
Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In this paper I want to focus on a characteristic cadential schema in the third movement of
Schubert's piano sonata D. 537. Before we can go to the piece itself, we first have to take a
look at the cadential prototype that forms the point of reference for Schubert's ingenious play.
The cadential schema at hand is for the first time explicitly described by Wilhelm Friedrich
Marpurg in the second volume of his Kritische Briefe from 1763. When he discusses the
perfect cadence in general, Marpurg mentions two conventional melodic options for the top
voice. I quote: "…with respect to its last two notes, [the perfect cadence] involves (…) the
discant going from the second below or above the tonic to the tonic itself, …" The resulting
voice leading patterns in the top voice thus are 7-1 and 2-1. In a next letter Marpurg refers to
this last option when he describes a peculiar cadential schema, which he considers to be
typical for the galant style. I quote: "In the last thirty-some years, the galant style has
invented a peculiar kind of perfect cadence, which, it's true, agrees with the two previous
cadences with respect to the last two notes in the upper voice, so: 2-1, but it differs from them
in this: that in the six-four chord that prepares the cadence, the fourth on the antipenult in the
upper voice must precede…"
Marpurg then shows both a 5-voice and a 4-voice rather abstract model. [PPT]
The distinctive features of this cadential schema are twofold. First, the cadential six-four
chord with the fourth, which is scale degree one, in the top voice. This first scale degree does
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not resolve as expected, that is, descending one tone lower, but instead moves up to the
second scale degree. As Marpurg points out in several of his other writings, and in contrast to
the views of his contemporaries, he considers this practice as a valuable resolution of the
dissonant fourth in a cadential six-four chord. A second feature of Marpurg's cadential model
is the concluding 2-1 melodic movement. [PPT]
As a result, the overall voice leading pattern in the upper part is 1-2-1. For the sake of
simplicity, I will refer to this cadence as 'Marpurg's galant cadence' or even shorter 'the
Marpurg cadence'.
Except the textural realization, the most important difference between Marpurg's abstract
models and concrete examples from the repertoire, concerns the ornamentation. From a
historical point of view, this is not surprising at all. Already in the very beginning of its
originating history in the repertoire, ornamentation was an essential feature within this
cadence. According to Marpurg, composers started to use it in galant vocal music from about
1730. [PPT]
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In one of its most common realizations of that time, scale degree one, with fermata sign, is
followed by scale degree two with a trill. Soloists were supposed to improvise during the
fermata, announcing the end of their virtuosic adventures through the trill. This device is
described by a lot of theorists, among them Marpurg himself. [PPT]
The procedure can be very clearly illustrated in an example by Graun: the aria 'Tra le procelle
assorto' from his Cesare e Cleopatra (1742). At the moment the bass reaches the fifth scale
degree, with fermata, the solo voice holds the dissonant fourth and the other instrumental
parts drop out. The soprano then adds a little improvisation, ending with a trill on scale degree
two. [Listening example, 0'17] I briefly investigated galant opera arias by Hasse and Graun. It
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was clear that this specific 'cadenza' variant of the Marpurg cadence almost exclusively
signals strong structural positions, reinforced by its striking ornamentations and always
confirming a preceding modulation. [PPT]
Its possible formal locations in the da capo arias from the 1730s on, can be summarized as
follows, ordered hierarchically. First, Marpurg's galant cadence can be the very last cadence for the
solo voice in the home key at the end of the first part; second, it often is the last solo cadence at the
end of the second part; and third, it sometimes confirms the second key in the first part. This same
correlation between the Marpurg cadence, its essential ornamentation and its potential
decisive formal implications can be found in instrumental galant music as well, for instance
in CPE Bach, Quantz, Frederick the Great, and many others.
As in the galant repertoire, classical composers continued to reserve Marpurg's galant cadence
as a strong formal marker. Although in galant music these structural positions without
exception coincided with the establishment of a new key, this is not always the case anymore
in classical music. Mozart, for instance, sometimes writes a Marpurg cadence after the first
theme in a sonata exposition, still remaining in the home key. Whatever its formal position, in
the classical repertoire ornamentation on scale degree two still was an unquestionable feature
of Marpurg's galant cadence. Even more: the type of ornamentation played a crucial role in
defining the strength and thus the structural weight of this cadential schema. Compared to the
galant style, the preference for the trill on scale degree two faded. Instead of it, an
appoggiatura, as a grace note or written out, or a turn was favored, at least in the written
score.
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The tight link between Marpurg's cadence, its prescribed ornamentation and its formal
significance in the classical repertoire can be nicely demonstrated in the slow movement of
Mozart's K. 575 string quartet. The B-section of this large ternary already ends with
Marpurg's galant cadence. And in the recapitulation of A, A', the concluding cadence of its
compound period is a Marpurg cadence as well. [PPT]
This same cadence is then repeated twice in the coda, but now Mozart radically alters its
shape to provide stronger closure: the scheme is nicely augmented and much more
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ornamented than in the previous appearances. Even in the V-I chord connections in the last
bars, Mozart still echoes Marpurg's galant cadence. [Listening example, 0'56]
In the early 19th-century repertoire, Marpurg's galant cadence was gradually less frequently
used. But in contrast to other galant cadences, e.g. the so-called Cudworth cadence, it did not
disappear at all. The major difference with galant and classical music, however, concerns its
former undeniable connection with strong formal positions. Romantic composers mostly
wrote Marpurg cadences with another objective in mind: they seemingly wanted to refer
smoothly to a certain galant feeling, introducing a moment of elegant relief. Such usage of
Marpurg's galant cadence as a topos is often associated with feminine characters or with a
religious atmosphere. Two fragments can serve as typical illustrations: Agathe's aria 'Leise,
leise, fromme Weise' from Weber's Freischütz and the Pilgrim's Chorus from Wagner's
Tannhäuser. [PPT] [Listening example, 0'20]
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In his Piano Sonata D. 537, composed in 1817, Schubert consciously plays with both
implications of Marpurg's galant cadence. On the one hand, he was well aware of its
characteristic ornamentations and its formal significance in the works of the classical masters.
On the other hand, he seemed to have been already sensitive for the potential expressive
meaning of Marpurg's galant cadence, absorbing a new stylistic language and urging for
adventurous compositional paths. In the first movement of this Piano Sonata in A minor,
Schubert uses the Marpurg cadence in the galant or classical way: as a confirmation of the
modulation to the second key in a sonata-exposition, here F major. [PPT]
As you can see, Schubert not only embellishes scale degree two with a written-out long
appoggiatura, but adds some ornaments to scale degree one as well. The combination of an
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appoggiatura and a lower changing note resembles the shape of a turn. The potential
concluding power of this first Marpurg cadence in bars 38-39 is partially weakened through
the immediate repetition of the secondary theme. But in bars 52-53 Schubert repeats exactly
the same cadence, this time leading to the expected structural closure. [PPT] [Listening
example, 0'33]
With this cadential scheme and its specific formal meaning in mind, the third movement of
the Piano Sonata is an extraordinary and interesting challenge for the listener.
From the very beginning of this Allegro vivace, it is clear that Schubert uses Marpurg's galant
cadence in a totally different way. Its coloristic qualities seem to be much more important,
typical for the romantic repertoire, although Schubert constantly and explicitly refers to its
possible formal impact as well. After the first stormy ascending unison scale, the expressive
contrast could barely be sharper: two smooth, soft and static chords lead to an affected
Marpurg cadence, precisely the same scheme as the one which structurally closed the first
movement. But now Schubert leaves out the resolution completely, as if it is too early to
conclude the theme. [PPT] [Listening example, 0'09]
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This same procedure is repeated three times, as if Schubert searches for the right tonality: first
in B flat major, then apparently recovered again into A minor. The third time, however,
Schubert aims at A major, but the expected resolution fails one more time. [Listening
example, 0'25] [PPT]
From bar 31, a light-hearted gesture and a descending scale fulfill the transition to the
dominant of A major. In bar 47, however, Schubert seemingly changes his mind and locks the
dominant of B minor. After a mediant transition, the beginning of the secondary theme
exhibits another surprising goal after the tonal wandering so far: it starts in bar 59 in D major,
which is the key of the fourth scale degree, and not in the deceptively prepared B minor or the
dominant key E minor. [PPT] [Listening example, 0'23]
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The motivic content of this secondary theme contains an undeniable link with the cadential
gestures from the opening bars as well as with the structural cadence from the first movement.
[PPT] Both the turn-like embellishment of scale degree one and the subsequent long
appoggiatura pointing to scale degree two, although slightly varied, strongly resemble the
Marpurg cadence from e.g. bars 7-8.
The first motive is then preserved in the fragmentation process in bars 71 to 94, which finally
carries us to a strong six-four chord in E major, the major-mode dominant key of A minor.
[Listening example, 0'25] [PPT]
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This six-four chord in E major in bar 95 signals the first section of the movement where
Schubert offers the listener music which firmly stays in the same key, except the typical
minor-major shifts. The empathic V-I progressions in bars 111 to 119 confirm this
experience, seemingly just waiting for the concluding cadence to come. [PPT]
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In bar 130 Schubert then subtly connects the secondary theme in E major with the motive to
which it so clearly referred to: the original Marpurg cadence from the opening bars. But even
this nicely prepared cadence, at the same time a kind of summary of the music so far and an
expanded cadential progression, fails to realize its expected resolution. [PPT]
The music from bar 111 on abruptly enters again, leading in bar 155 to the same summarizing
cadence as in bar 130. And now Schubert very obviously shows that it's his conscious
objective NOT to provide cadential closure throughout this whole movement. He twice
repeats the lamenting appoggiatura on scale degree two, leaving out the resolution again and
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following it by a general pause, as he did so often in the very beginning of the piece. [PPT]
[Listening example, 0'43]
Schubert not only refuses to grant the listener cadential satisfaction, the tonal plan of the
second part of the movement confuses even more. [PPT]
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As you can see in this overview, bars 164 to 309 recapitulate the same thematic material and
formal organization of the music up till now. However, the tonal choices are rather unusual.
Schubert first transposes the first section up a fifth to e minor, slightly resembling the
transposition down a fifth, as he does in e.g. the first movement of the Trout Quintet. One of
the possible outcomes of such a strategy is the secondary theme immediately being in the
right key, the home key, without having to make changes to the transition. [PPT]
The dominant in f# minor in bar 220 sounds promising: a mediant transition could indeed
introduce the secondary theme in A major. But Schubert instead first shifts up the previous
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dominant-lock half a tone, aiming at the dominant of G. And second, he uses this dominant as
a real dominant towards the secondary theme, thus beginning in G major. [PPT]
From there, the music is an exact recapitulation of the corresponding section in the first part,
now indeed transposed down a fifth. As a result, a bright A major section from bar 266 seems
to provide the final answer to the tonal detours in this movement. But in bar 309, Schubert
leaves the listener with the same unsatisfying feeling as at the end of the first part: the twice
repeated lamenting appoggiatura and then the silence... [Listening example, 1'50]
The coda from bar 310 to 367 has to furnish the resolution: will Schubert at last bring his
tonal wandering tour to an end, eventually with a fully realized Marpurg cadence, which
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stands at the heart of this movement? After a literal recapitulation of the opening bars in a
minor, bar 330 brings about a deceptive resolution of Marpurg's galant cadence in that key.
[PPT]
This F major harmony is then prolonged, after which a typical Schubertian third relationship
suddenly points to a cadential six-four in A major in bar 350. Leaving all Marpurg cadences
unresolved, Schubert ends the sonata with one of the most basic cadential voice leading
patterns: 5-1, only ornamented with some essential rhythmic pulsation and followed by a final
fortissimo chord as a last ironical sneer to the listener. [Listening example, 0'43] [PPT]
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As a conclusion, we can state that Schubert's Piano Sonata D. 537 nicely exemplifies the
apparent change, both functionally and rhetorically, concerning the use of Marpurg's
specifically galant cadence from the 1730s on. In the vocal and instrumental galant repertoire,
Marpurg's cadential schema, with its essential ornamentations, operates as an emphatic tonal
and thus formal marker. In classical music, these intertwined functions shift towards a more
nuanced handling. Later on, in the romantic repertoire, the galant touch of this cadence
gradually seems to become more important than its former structural potential. However, in
the third movement of his Piano Sonata D. 537, Schubert fully employs both aspects of
Marpurg's galant cadence. On the one hand, he accentuates the expressive contrast between
the general tone of the sonata and its crucial motive, namely Marpurg's cadential scheme. On
the other hand, he effectively plays with the formal implications of the Marpurg cadence, both
from a historical and a piece's intrinsic point of view.
Thank you for your attention.